Rebuilding a family
by Carrro
Summary: When Suzie Barnham, the mother of Horatio's niece Madison, is murdered, Horatio has to fight a battle where he doesn't only have to find Suzie's murderer, but also be there for Madison as her only family member. Implied HY, set during season 3
1. I'll take care of you

**A/N:** After this very, very, very long break - i'm back. When i realized it was 4 months since last update i just had to post something - so i hurried to get this story ready to be published. I hope you lot like it! The HY spirit starts to come back to me, so expect this one to turn into HY. Not sure about how much, but at least some hints. Now enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own a thing.

_Rebuilding a Family_

_**Chapter one – I'll take care of you**_

Seeing the sun ascend to the sky in Miami, Florida, a bright morning was a sight like no other. Watching the sunbeams reflect in the constant moving ocean, where waves gently rolled over the white beaches, was a beautiful sight. It was one of the most beautiful things that could be seen, according to Horatio Caine.

Not a single cloud was in the sky and the ocean was calm. The waves were rolling softly over the almost empty beaches.

As Horatio stood in his apartment, in his bedroom, he watched the sun make its journey up into the sky. It was still early in the morning, but he was clearly wide-awake. It wasn't often he had time to stop and actually watch this special and beautiful phenomenon of nature.

A soft breeze flowed into the room, softly stirring his red hair. The city outside was on its way to waking up, and the streets were already starting to fill with cars. Their buzzing sounds were mixed with the waves' soft murmur and together they created the morning sound of Miami.

Hearing his cell phone beep in the background made him tilt his head slightly, and close his eyes. He took a deep sigh, and opened his eyes once again. With a last glance out the window at the blue ocean, he turned away from the window and went back to the bed. He grabbed the cell phone lying on the bed table, and pressed it to his ear.

"Caine," he answered, hiding all traces of tiredness or irritation in his voice.

"Horatio, it's Frank. Sorry if I woke you up, but there's something you should know…"

Half an hour later, Horatio hurried up the stairs in another building, and bent down under the yellow marking tape, reading "CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS". He walked into an apartment he had been in many times before – last time only a few days ago. He walked through the hall, and into the living room. It was a newly renovated apartment, with newly painted walls that still gave away a small smell of fresh paint. But today, there was a smell of something else, too – the smell of blood… of death.

He didn't want to believe what Frank had told him on the phone a little while earlier, but as he saw her body at the floor in the living room, he saw himself staring at the truth.

Her strawberry blonde hair was lying like a fan around her head. Her body was lying in an unnatural position; her neck oddly turned in at a weird angle, telling Horatio her neck had been snapped. Her grey eyes stared emptily in front of her, not blinking, not moving, just… just staring at the face of death.

Horatio swallowed, staring at the body on the floor. A man approached him from behind, but Horatio's eyes didn't leave the body.

"Horatio," a familiar voice said, belonging to the lieutenant's friend and co-worker Eric Delko, "I'm so sorry."

Horatio swallowed once again, and forced himself to look at Eric, away from the body, "I know, Eric."

They stood in silence, both of them staring at the young woman's lifeless body on the floor.

Eric couldn't believe this happened. Horatio had gone through so much; the loss of his brother, the loss of Speed, and now this; the loss of Suzie. She might not have been related to him by blood, but Eric knew that she was family to him anyway. And except for his work, all this man had was his family. But his family seemed to fall apart, piece by piece.

"I know you have to do this, Eric. Just…" Horatio swallowed again – it seemed like he couldn't to it often enough right now, "Just do your work. I trust you."

Eric merely nodded, unsure of how to reply.

Horatio turned his back on the scene, not being able to see her lifeless body anymore. Suddenly his heart started racing, and he realized he hadn't been thinking clearly since Frank had told him about her death. But before he had time to start thinking about what to do, a beautiful Colombian appeared in his vision line, and after a quick look at her face, he knew Madison was all right.

He walked over to Yelina Salas, his sky blue eyes refusing to look back at Suzie Barnham's lifeless body.

"Where is she?" he asked when he stopped beside Yelina. Even in this situation he was unable to ignore how beautiful she was. Her brown curls were alluringly hanging down her shoulders, the brown eyes watching him with a concerned look.

Yelina made a gesture towards the room Horatio knew belonged to Madison, "In there."

"I want to talk to her."

Yelina nodded, and moved so he could pass and walk into the room.

Horatio entered the room and found his niece sitting on her bed. Her bloodshot eyes were focused on one specific spot on the wall and she didn't even blink when he came into the room. Horatio walked to her bed, and bent down so that his eyes were in the same level as hers. Slowly her eyes, which practically were a copy of the lieutenant's blue ones, moved to meet his.

"Madison…" Horatio said quietly, not quite sure what to say to her, "Come here, sweetheart." He held out his arms, and the six year old girl fell into his arms.

"She's dead, isn't she?" she whispered quietly.

"I'll make sure the one who did this is put away for life."

The small girl didn't reply, just rested her head on her uncle's shoulder, letting the tears leave her eyes and fall down on Horatio's suit.

"One way or another, we're going to get through this. I promise everything is going to be all right."

As he gave his niece this promise, he promised himself the same thing. He promised himself to get the person who had done this to Suzie. He promised himself to get the person who had hurt Madison so badly, and he promised himself to look out for Madison and never let anything hurt her again. She would be safe with him. Nothing would ever hurt her again.

Horatio would make sure of that.

His promises would be kept.

**A/N 2:** I am very evil, am i not? In every story with Madison, the poor little girl is going through hell. And it doesn't seem like this is an exception, does it? I hope you like it, and for those who review - cookies!

(I know it's a bit short...)


	2. Angel in Hell

**A/N:** This chapter was pretty difficult to write, but i'm pretty satisfied with the result.

And those that have reviewed; you're awesome. Thanks so much.

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Still not mine.

* * *

_**Chapter two – Angel in hell**_

"I'm so sorry, Horatio. I can't believe this happened."

"Neither can I," he replied, his sad eyes meeting her beautiful brown ones.

"Do you think it's a good idea that you-"

"I AM going to work this case, Yelina," Horatio interrupted.

Her lips turned into an almost unnoticeable smile, "I knew you would say that."

Horatio merely nodded, looking away from the Latina.

"But if someone from IAB finds out…" Yelina started, but then she trailed away.

In this case both of them knew that 'someone' meant nobody else but Rick Stetler; the man whom was widely known as Horatio Caine's enemy, but also as Yelina Salas' boyfriend.

"Rick won't find out as long as nobody tells him about Suzie."

"My lips are sealed."

Horatio turned his head and looked away from Yelina, out through the window and at the blue ocean. All his energy was focused onto a single point so that he wouldn't start crying, but his efforts didn't stop the woman next to him from seeing his sorrow.

She stroked her hand over his back. He froze at her touch, but didn't object. She swallowed, took a deep breath and whispered, "Are you going to be okay?"

It took several seconds before he replied; the question had brought tears to his eyes, and once again had he been forced to focus on holding back his tears, before doing anything else. "I'm more worried about Madison right now."

She nodded, and removed her hand from his back. They stood in silence, both of them looking at the ocean and the beaches, which now where filled with people.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Yelina understood that he was talking about the ocean; she knew about his love of the great ocean.

"It is," she agreed, before walking away. She knew him well enough to understand when he needed to be alone.

--

"Alexx," Calleigh acknowledged the woman whom entered the crime scene. Her voice was serious and there was no sign of the bright smile that could usually be found in her face.

"I just heard..."

Calleigh nodded, leading the coroner towards the dead body on the floor.

"How is Horatio taking this?"

Calleigh shrugged. "I haven't talked to him yet."

"He's with his niece?"

"No, she's alone at the moment…" Calleigh replied, "I think there's a police officer with her."

"A police officer!?" Alexx exclaimed with her eyes wide open. After a quick nod from Calleigh she continued: "I'll be right back." Alexx turned at the spot, guiding herself through the apartment until she found Madison's room.

She softly knocked at the already opened door, before stepping into the room. The young girl was lying on her bed, and she didn't even react when Alexx entered the room.

"Hello, Maddie," Alexx said softly, looking around the small room. Three of the walls were painted with white colour, but the fourth was painted a beautiful gold shade. On the small, dark blue couch lay several pillows, all of them with some kind of golden motif. On one of the white walls hung a big poster of the Little Mermaid.

She sat down next to Madison on the bed, stroking her hand over the young girl's back. "You like the little mermaid?"

Madison moved her head slightly, though whether that was a small nod or just an attempt to lie more comfortable was impossible to tell. Alexx, however, decided to assume it was a nod. "My daughter loves the little mermaid too. She always sings along with Ariel in the songs, and always laughs at Flounder and Sebastian… She's about the same age as you are – she's six. How old are you, sweetie?"

At first it seemed like Madison wasn't going to reply, but then, after several moments, she opened her mouth and whispered, "Six."

Alexx couldn't help but smiling, feeling relief that Madison finally spoke. "Maybe you should meet my daughter sometime, I'm sure you two would get along well."

The sound of a floorboard creak made both Madison and Alexx look up. Horatio stood in the door way, smiling weakly towards his friend and his niece.

His eyes met Alexx and she rose from the bed. On her way out of the room, she stopped next to him.

"Thank-you," he whispered.

"No problem, honey. It's a sweet kid you've got over there. Take care of her."

"I will," Horatio assured her. Alexx nodded and left the room, since there still was work for her to do here. Suzie Barnham's body did still lie untouched.

When his friend and co-worker had left the room, Horatio walked to the bed and sat down on the bed next to his niece, whom was lying with her head resting on a small pillow. After a short hesitation, he lay down next to her.

"Madison?" he whispered, making the young girl to look up at her uncle. But she didn't reply. "Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me."

"What if he comes after me too?" she whispered back, her eyes meeting his.

"No one will ever hurt you again, Madison. Do you hear me?" The young girl nodded. Horatio hesitated, knowing he would be forced to ask her this one question sooner or later. "Who did this to your mother?"

"He was so mad…" Madison's face got all pale and Horatio could see the fear clear in her eyes.

Without saying another word, he sat up and then lifted her up and put her on his knee. His niece rested her head on his chest, silently starting to cry. Horatio wanted to slap himself in the face for being so stupid. Yes, it was a question he would have to ask her – but not just a few hours after her mother had been murdered. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he put his arms around her, as a shield against all evil in this world. From now on, he would protect her from everything and anything that could possibly hurt her.

She was a little angel, yet she was going through hell.

The little girl didn't stop crying, and all Horatio could do was gently rock his niece to and fro until she calmed down. And it took a while before her cries turned into sobs, which slowly faded away too. When the girl sat silent in his lap he dried away a tear from her cheek, giving her a small smile.

He put her down in the bed once again, and rose. Walking up to the dark blue bookcase, he bent forwards to read the titles of the books.

Once he had found the book he had been looking for, he returned to the bed, and sat down next to Madison. After lifting her up in his lap again, he started to read.

"Once upon a time, there was a red-haired mermaid who lived in the deep, blue ocean…"

--

Inside Madison's room, where Horatio and Madison now sat curled up together in the bed, time didn't seem to pass anymore. The cruel reality would soon remind the two of them of what had just happened, but until then, they'd be able to escape the tough tasks that lay ahead. No fairytale could stop time from passing by and the future from coming closer. But maybe, just maybe, would it stop them for suffering for at least a little while.

However, outside the room, time passed by like always, and as Alexx bent down next to the dead body of Suzie Barnham, not even a fairytale would've made her feel any better.

"Poor, baby. What a way to have one's life ended…" she mumbled, as Calleigh sat down next to her.

"There are traces of struggle in the kitchen," Calleigh informed Alexx. "I think Suzie here put up a real fight against whoever attacked her."

"No doubt there," Alexx agreed, "There are a big number of defensive wounds on her arms and hands; we might be able to get some DNA from under her fingernails too."

Calleigh's lips turned into a sad smile. "Let's hope so, for Horatio's and Madison's sake."

"I couldn't have agreed with you more," Alexx mumbled as Calleigh rose.

"There he is!" burst Calleigh as Ryan Wolfe stepped into the living room.

"Traffic," he muttered, putting down his kit on the floor. "How's H?" he whispered to the blonde next to him.

Calleigh shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. He's not talked to anyone 'cept Yelina and Madison since I got here. Eric was the first CSI to get here, except for H, and they only uttered a few words to each other." As she said this, Eric walked up to them.

"Traffic?"

Ryan nodded. "How does H seem to take this?"

There was no trace of a smile on Eric's face as he replied. "Not too good, it would seem."

They all stood in silence, and none of them moved. Two of Alexx's men helped her lie the body on a stretcher, and when they carried Suzie's body out of the apartment, Alexx stopped next to them. Her face had a determined look upon it, and as she spoke her voice was firm and boiling with anger, "Let's catch this son of a bitch, before this happens to somebody else."

* * *

**A/N 2:** I gave Alexx some space in this one, both together with Madison and in the end. I think she was the best person to talk to Madison. Not quite sure about Alexx's daughter's age, but here she's 6, ok? ;) What do you think about the chapter? Feel free to leave a review. Thanks guys.


	3. She didn't deserve this

**A/N:** I'm a lousy updater. And i'm sorry for that. It's taking by far too long to update these days, but i'm gonna blame school. So hopefully i'll start updating a bit faster during the summer holidays. Well... Happy readings.

**_Disclaimer:_** I still don't own a thing.

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_**Chapter 3 – **__She didn't deserve this._

About half an hour after Horatio had started reading, he noticed that the young girl in his lap had fallen asleep. He laid her down in her bed slowly and very carefully, laid the book about the Little Mermaid on the bed-table, and then rose from the bed.

He walked to the door, but before exiting the room, he looked back at his niece. She was still fast asleep and he knew that the longer she slept, the better it was.

He walked down the short hall, and into the living room. The spot Suzie had been lying at before was now empty. Alexx had left the scene a while earlier, but Ryan, Calleigh and Eric were still working.

All three of them froze by the sight of their boss, but then they approached him, all of them looking at him with respect and sympathy.

Eric was the first one to open his mouth. "How's Madison?"

"Scared to death, but right now she's fast asleep."

"What about you?" Calleigh asked quietly with a look of concern at Horatio.

He wanted to smile, wanted to make them believe that he was okay, but he couldn't. Right now he wasn't even able to produce a smile. "All I want you to worry about right now is this investigation. There are no other crime scenes in Miami until we've caught the one who did this."

The three of them nodded, all of them having serious and worried looks upon their faces. Horatio had not- by a long shot- managed to convince them that he was okay.

"What have you found?" Horatio asked after a long silence.

Ryan glanced at the other two before he spoke. "Lots of fingerprints, obviously, but we hope they'll lead us to our killer."

"What else?"

Again the three CSIs exchanged glances. Eric was the one to open his mouth this time. "We're still working on it, H."

Their boss only nodded as thanks before he turned and walked back into Madison's room.

He sat down in the chair next to the desk and studied Madison for about half an hour. When she woke up, her eyes immediately focused at Horatio.

A warm smile spread across Horatio's face. "Hey, sweetheart."

There wasn't a trace of a smile on her face as she spoke. "Uncle Horatio?" He nodded and was surprised to see her leave the bed and cling her arms around his shoulders. First he froze, caught by surprise by the sudden movement, but he hurried to put his arms around her.

"Listen, sweetie, I need to get back to my work, but-"

"Don't leave me, uncle Horatio. Please," the small girl cried in his ear, her chin resting on his shoulder.

"I won't, sweetheart. You can come with me."

Madison let go of him, and since Horatio was sitting, and bending forwards towards Madison, his eyes were in the same level as hers. Madison nodded and looked into Horatio's eyes. Horatio rose from the chair and went out through the door. When they were just outside the door opening into the living room, he felt his niece's small hand slip into his.

He looked down at her, and saw her eyes directed into the room, her face pale. "Do you want to wait out here?" The girl shook her head violently, and started to walk into the room, her hand still clutching Horatio's.

Calleigh saw them entering the room and walked up to them. She gave the girl a small smile – something Madison seemed too frighten to even notice – before looking up at Horatio.

"I'm gonna get to the lab," Horatio explained. "I'll take Madison with me."

"Watch out for IAB."

"I'm used to that these days," Horatio replied gravely, and Calleigh couldn't help but smiling. With Rick in the lab every second day, looking for things he could get the CSIs in trouble for, Horatio had quite a lot of experience of Internal Affairs already.

"We'll keep going here," Calleigh assured him.

"Keep me posted."

A last smile crossed Calleigh's lips before she turned around and went back to her work.

The uncle and his niece exited the apartment and drove to the lab. Madison sat silent in the co-pilot seat, her forehead resting on the window as she watched the streets of Miami pass by.

"Why would he hurt her, Uncle Horatio?" the girl whispered so quietly that Horatio barely heard her.

He kept his eyes on the road as he replied. "I don't know, darling. I don't know."

"Did mom do something wrong?"

Horatio hesitated, and glanced at the small girl next to him. "Whatever she had or hadn't done, she didn't deserve this."

He returned his eyes to the road, and then let go of the wheel with his right hand to carefully stroke Madison's cheek. "She didn't deserve this," he repeated silently as the girl returned her gaze to the streets and all there was to see out there.

* * *

When Lieutenant Caine entered the Crime Lab a while later, the lab techs, cops and detectives couldn't stop themselves from staring at the redhead and the small girl next to him.

She was like a miniature of Horatio.

Lab techs bent forwards to whisper to their partners, not thinking of how obvious their movements were.

'_Horatio Caine has a daughter?' _was the whisper that now spread in the lab.

Horatio ignored them, letting the sunglasses hide the shadow of sorrow in his eyes. When the girl next to him tried to slip her hand into his, he didn't object but took her hand and squeezed it lightly.

The door to his office was soon shut behind them, and it was then that the Lieutenant took off his sunglasses.

He motioned to his niece that she could sit down in his chair, behind the desk, and she sat down in his chair that was by far too high. Her legs hung down from the chair, her toes barely reaching the floor.

That Madison was sad, shaken and lost was obvious, but she her curiousness was still there and she couldn't help but looking around in his office. It was the first time she was in there.

She glanced on the shelf, filled with folders and files. A United-States flag hung on the wall and a painting of the ocean hung next to the shelf. Her gaze moved from the shelf and painting, to the desk. The papers and folders lay in organized piles on both sides of the desk, while the centre was empty. On the right corner of the desk stood a couple of pictures, one of them with a woman she had met a couple of times in the building when she and her mother had been there to see Horatio. The woman held her arms around a brown-haired boy, whom seemed to be in Madison's age or a little bit older. Next to this frame stood a picture of Madison, taken a while back when she and Horatio were out to get her a new picture for the new passport. When they had been at the photograph, they had taken some other pictures, of which Horatio kept one of them, while Suzie was given the rest. At the last picture she froze. It was a picture of Madison and Suzie, about 6 months old, when they had been at the beach. A friendly woman at the beach had taken the picture, when the mother and her daughter had been there one weekend. Horatio had been given the picture as a birthday present from Madison.

Madison stared at the photograph of Suzie and herself, sitting together on a blanket on the beach, both of them smiling into the camera.

Horatio realized what she was staring at and walked up next to her and stood behind her chair.

"You alright, Madison?"

"Mom… mom didn't take me to the beach after that day."

A wrinkle could be seen between Horatio's eyebrows. "Do you know why, sweetheart?"

The question was ignored, and the small girl continued. "She acted strange. She… she was just like… like before you came to us."

"What do you mean?" Horatio asked as he bent down next to the chair she was sitting in. "What was she like before I came to you?"

"She forgot…" the small girl was whispering now, with her eyes focused at the photograph of her and her mother. She seemed lost in thoughts, barely aware that Horatio was there anymore. "She forgot about me… She forgot everything. And she was mad all the time."

Horatio stroked his hand over her cheek, seeing tears flow up in her beautiful sky blue eyes. He didn't know how to explain it to her. How should he explain that she had been using drugs before he came to them? "Well…" he stopped, sighed and tried to find the right words. "Your mother, she… she sometimes got sick. And she couldn't help it if she forgot things…" Horatio paused again. "She loved you, Madison."

Before the small girl had a chance to reply, Horatio's cell phone rang. He rose and flipped his phone open, pressing it to his ear.

"Caine."

"Horatio, I just wanted to say that we're heading back to the lab," Horatio heard Eric Delko say.

"Eric… did you find something in there?"

"We…" The diver took a deep breath and then sighed. "H, we found something you won't like… We found drugs."

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It's simple. Reviews make me happy... and a happy Carro usually updates quickly. In other words: everyone gets happy of reviews! )


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